I know Father’s Day was about two weeks ago, but I was reminded of my dad’s great influence on me this past week. With my birthday being on Monday, I missed hearing his voice on the other end of the phone, wishing me a happy birthday from back home. And with one of my employees recently losing his grandfather, it made me appreciate more what I was able to learn from my dad during his time on earth.
My dad, Jim, was born in Nebraska. He was a simple man. A farmer. A hard worker.
He taught me to have discipline and consistency in all aspects of life. Living on a farm, there wasn’t much of a choice. You had to do it.
Before leaving, my father taught me one of the main tools I teach people now: The 3 D’s.
Decisions, Determination and Disqualification.
These 3 D’s were never more in effect than when he was on his death bed.
It was New Year’s Eve 2006 and I got a phone call that my father was going to die. I was in Tahoe and needed to fly to Nebraska ASAP to see him.
My father had never met my daughter (who was 3 months old at the time) and I wasn’t going to let him go without seeing her.
Here’s where the challenge presented itself: There were absolutely NO outgoing flights from Tahoe on NYE. None. I literally called everywhere and just kept getting no’s.
No, no, no, no, NO.
But I was going home. No doubt about it. (See what I did there?)
So I started thinking of who I could call to help. Luckily, I had a friend in aviation. I dialed him up immediately and asked him to get my family and I to Nebraska.
“Loral…it would be $29,000 to fly out,” he said.
“I don’t care. How quickly can we leave?” I told him.
Before I could blink, my family and I had packed up a few essentials, driven out to a private airport and were in the air for Nebraska.
Mission accomplished. YES! SUCCESS!
So we flew out and got to spend my dad’s last days together. He got to meet his granddaughter and we all spent the waning moments of his life as a family.
I couldn’t have asked for anything more.
This whole story was one of those “Say ‘yes’ and figure out how” moments. I was told ‘no, there is no way we can get you to your dad,’ but I said ‘yes, I am flying home’ and figured out how.
MANY OF YOU DON’T HAVE THIS TYPE OF MINDSET BECAUSE YOU’RE STUCK WHEN IT COMES TO THE 3 D’S:
Deciding: When faced with obstacles, many of you have decided you can’t do it. The decision is already made up in your mind. But when it’s really, really, really something that you need to do, I think it’s fascinating to see how creative you can become to get that thing done.
Moral of the story: When the world had told me “no” 100 times, I had already decided to say “yes.” Do the same in your own life and see it transform.
Determination: A lot of you have a lack of determination. You have to be determined enough to say yes. It can’t be feigned. Your “yes” must be genuine and driven. Almost a gut YES!
Moral of the story: There was no way in hell I was not going to see my father during his last days.
Disqualification: A lot of you disqualify yourself based on the fact that you don’t know how to overcome whatever challenged you’re faced with and don’t know anyone to help you do it.
Moral of the story: Yes, I was fortunate enough to have a friend in aviation to fly me out, but even if I didn’t, I would’ve made a friend that day. Never disqualify yourself for anything. It’s the most disempowering thing you could do.
These Are The 3 D’s I Learned From My Dad
Always question your 3 D’s in life and keep them in mind every day. Consider saying “yes” every day and putting it against the 3 D’s. Because I genuinely think that you can have everything you want in your life. You just have to be willing to make it through the 3 D’s and figure out how.
Happy belated Father’s Day, everyone & here’s to saying “yes” in all circumstances from now on…and appreciating dad’s lifelong lessons.
Talk soon,
LL
